This book is about a human in the far future who goes to a planet called Gethen, where people are androgynous except for several days a month when they turn either male or female depending on the circumstances, and during this time can either father or mother a child.

An infinitely interesting idea, and Le Guin examines it well, but another “thought experiment” she begins is the “Ekumen”, a relationship of many planets who have chosen to join together. Genly Ai, the narrator of The Left Hand of Darkness, is an Envoy for the Ekuman to the planet Gethen, hoping to obtain their agreement to join the grouping of planets. He explains what this organization is:

The Ekumen is not a kingdom, but a coordinator, a clearing house for trade and knowledge; without it communication between the worlds of men would be haphazard, and trade very risky…

The main characters argues that “we are all men… all sons of the same Hearth.”

Only one person is sent to a planet that has already been deemed a potential member, and this person, the Envoy, is designed to be non-threatening, nonjudgmental:

“…I came alone, so obviously alone, so vulnerable, that I could in myself pose no threat, change no balance: not an invasion, but a mere messenger-boy.” He says that beginnings, to the Ekumen, are very important, that “Its doctrine is just the reverse of the end justifies the means.”

How unlike any planetary council or federation I have ever read about. One that considers each action and step to be important and crucial to the end result.